A kingdom beside the Greek cities
The Lydians held the fertile river valleys of western Anatolia, directly inland from the Greek cities of Ionia. For the Greeks of the coast, Lydia was the nearest great kingdom, a source of gifts, tribute and danger. This article looks at the Lydians as a neighbour of the Greeks, concentrating on how the kingdom was organised, how it related to the Greek world and how Greeks described it. The dynasty and the final siege are therefore treated briefly.
The phrase “kings and merchants” in the title is a convenient label. Kings clearly mattered, since the Lydian state was a monarchy centred on the royal court at Sardis. The “merchants” part rests largely on Herodotus, who says the Lydians were the first people to trade in retail. This is a Greek view and should not be read as a measured statement about the economy.
Geography and neighbours
Lydia lay along the Hermus and Cayster valleys and the nearby uplands. To the west were the Greek cities, such as Ephesus, Smyrna and Miletus. To the south lay Caria and, to the east, the old Phrygian lands, where the kingdom centred at Gordion had once been dominant. Further east, beyond the Halys River, lay the Median, later Persian, empire. Lydia was therefore a middle power, connecting the Greek coast with inland Anatolia and pressed by powers on its eastern side.
Language and religion
The Lydian language belonged to the Anatolian group of Indo-European languages, together with the language of the old Hittite kingdom and Luwian, which makes it distinct from Greek. It was written in its own alphabet, with signs that resemble Greek letters in some cases. The Greek and Latin alphabets descend from Phoenician writing, and Lydian writing was a separate regional adaptation of the same wider tradition. Inscriptions are few and short, so there is limited knowledge of Lydian literature.
Religion combined Anatolian and Greek features. A great mother goddess, the Lydian relative of Cybele, was worshipped at Sardis. Artemis was also prominent, and the Temple of Artemis at Sardis became a major building in later periods, while the more famous Artemis temple at Ephesus attracted Lydian donations. Ritual practices and priesthoods are only partly known.
Gyges and the Mermnad kings
The dynasty that took over around the early seventh century BCE was the Mermnads, founded by Gyges. Greek tradition remembered him as a usurper who won the throne, as in Herodotus’s story of the bodyguard and the queen or Plato’s story of the ring. These accounts are best seen as Greek tales about power. Assyrian sources mention a ruler called Gugu of Luddi, usually equated with Gyges, which gives independent support for his existence and a rough date.
Gyges sent rich offerings to Delphi, and for a long time visitors could see them there. The kings who followed, Ardys, Sadyattes and Alyattes, strengthened the realm through war and diplomacy. Alyattes fought the Medes and was part of the settlement that set the Halys River as a border, according to Herodotus.
Croesus and the Greek cities
Croesus is remembered for subduing the Greek cities of the coast and making them pay tribute, while allowing them to keep their own governments. Herodotus says he sought alliances with the mainland Greeks, especially Sparta. This policy was cautious: a king who relied on cities for tribute needed them working, not destroyed. At the same time, Croesus admired Greek culture and sent gifts to Greek shrines.
For the Greeks, Lydian rule was mixed. They paid, but they also benefited from the markets and the wealth of the court. Later Greek writers recalled the period with a mixture of resentment and nostalgia.
Money and craft
The Lydians are credited with some of the earliest stamped coins. Coin minting in Lydia and Ionia is a topic with many unknowns, and its details belong with studies of the economy and money. Lydian craftsmen also worked in pottery, perfume containers and textiles, and Greek authors admired Lydian music, including a musical mode named after them. Whether this mode resembled anything played in Lydia itself is uncertain.
Persian conquest
The end came when Cyrus the Great of Persia defeated Croesus and took Sardis, probably in 546 BCE. Persian rule turned the former kingdom into a province, and Sardis became a centre of administration and a major link in Persian road networks. The story of how Lydia was overcome by a rising empire is also part of the larger Greco-Persian conflict, since the Greek cities of Ionia passed under Persian control with it.
Persian rule did not erase Lydian culture. Elements of Lydian style show up in Persian art, and Sardians are named among the stone-cutters of Darius’s palace at Susa, according to its foundation inscription. The influence of Persian imperial culture on Sardis was also visible, in the form of tombs and seals showing local and Persian traits.
Judging the Lydian legacy
The Lydians did not shape the Greek world in the way that Egypt or Phoenicia did, but they were an important neighbour. They offered a model of monarchy, wealth and diplomacy that Greeks both used and criticised. The kingdom’s story is a case study in how Greeks learned about power from observing the non-Greek peoples at their borders, and why we need archaeology and local inscriptions to supplement the Greek storytellers.